127-483: KDKA may refer to: KDKA (AM) , a radio station (1020 AM) licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States KDKA-TV , a television station (channel 2) licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States KDKA-FM , a radio station (93.7 FM) licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States WPKD-TV , a television station (channel 19) licensed to Jeannette, Pennsylvania, United States, branded on air as KDKA+ WLTJ ,
254-525: A Class A , clear channel , AM radio station, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. and licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , United States. Its radio studios are located at the combined Audacy Pittsburgh facility in the Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree , and its transmitter site is at Allison Park . The station's programming is also carried over 93.7 KDKA-FM 's HD2 digital subchannel , and
381-555: A "solemn referendum" on the League of Nations , but did not get one. Harding waffled on the League, thereby keeping Idaho senator William Borah and other Republican "irreconcilables" in line. Cox also hedged. He went to the White House to seek Wilson's blessing and apparently endorsed the League, but—upon discovering its unpopularity among Democrats—revised his position to one that would accept
508-653: A 100-foot (30 m) pipe mast atop the K ;Building. Frank Conrad had originally planned to broadcast the election results over 8XK, in cooperation with the American Radio Relay League , but shifted his efforts to help with the Westinghouse broadcast. He and Donald G. Little had primary responsibility for constructing a 100 watt vacuum-tube transmitter, scaling up Conrad's previous 50 watt radiotelephone transmitter design. A telephoned temporary authorization
635-454: A KDKA announcer repeated the ringside commentary, after it had been relayed by telegraph by Westinghouse engineers who were listening to the WJY broadcast. KDKA's participation included six theaters where attendees were charged admission to hear the reports. On August 5, 1921, KDKA became the first radio station to broadcast a major league professional baseball game, when announcer Harold Arlin called
762-525: A band composed of Westinghouse employees. The station provided its first remote broadcast on January 2, 1921, airing a religious service from Calvary Episcopal Church . The Calvary services soon became a regular Sunday evening offering, and were continued until 1962. On January 15, 1921, at 8 p.m., KDKA broadcast a speech on European relief by Herbert Hoover from the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, that
889-526: A compromise candidate between the conservative and progressive wings of the Republican party, and he clinched his nomination on the tenth ballot at the 1920 Republican National Convention . The election was dominated by the American social and political environment in the aftermath of World War I , which was marked by a hostile response to certain aspects of Wilson's foreign policy and a massive reaction against
1016-441: A fifth cousin and nephew-in-law of the late president Theodore Roosevelt, for vice-president. Early favorites for the nomination had included McAdoo and Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer . Others placed in nomination included New York governor Al Smith , United Kingdom ambassador John W. Davis , New Jersey governor Edward I. Edwards , and Oklahoma senator Robert Latham Owen . Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs
1143-651: A former governor of Texas , announced his candidacy on April 21, 1920, in Temple, Texas , under the badge of "American Party". Ferguson was opposed to Democrats whom he saw as too controlled by elite academic interests as seen when Woodrow Wilson endorsed rival Thomas H. Ball in the gubernatorial primary, and hoped to help the Republicans carry Texas for the first time (Texas never went Republican during Reconstruction ). Initially Ferguson and running mate William J. Hough hoped to carry their campaign to other states, but Ferguson
1270-633: A hyphen about with him [i.e., a hyphenated American ] carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready." Of the $ 5,500,000 raised by supporters of the Irish Republic in the United States in 1919–20, the Dublin parliament ( Dáil Éireann ) voted in June 1920 to spend $ 500,000 on the American presidential election. How this money was spent remains unclear. Ironically,
1397-641: A national and international provider of radio communication. Its primary competitor in this effort was the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which had recently been formed as a subsidiary by Westinghouse's arch rival, the General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, using the assets of the Marconi Company of America. The effort to establish Westinghouse's radio industry presence was led by company vice president H. P. Davis. To strengthen
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#17330930742561524-401: A net vote total of 1,540,000 from the twelve largest cities which was the highest amount for any Republican and fifth highest for any candidate from 1920 to 1948. The Democratic vote was almost exactly the vote from 1916, but the Republican vote nearly doubled, as did the "other" vote. As pointed out earlier, the great increase in the total number of votes is mainly attributable to the passage of
1651-479: A newspaper report noted that "a new high-power station, to operate under a special or commercial license, is being installed at the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh. It will be used to establish communication between the East Pittsburgh plant and the company branch factories at Cleveland, O., Newark, N. J., and Springfield, Mass., where similar outfits will be employed." An application, signed by H. P. Davis,
1778-421: A pioneer in radio broadcasting, KDKA struggled in particular with studio acoustics, especially for large groups of performers. An early attempt to broadcast a concert by Westinghouse employees from a local auditorium found that the sensitive microphones picked up echoes from the walls, causing severe distortion. Moving the performers outdoors eliminated the echoing, so a tent was erected on the building roof, and for
1905-504: A plurality for Ferguson. With the tipping point state of Rhode Island being decided by a 31.2 percent margin, the 1920 election has the largest margin of victory in the tipping point state in American history. Wilson had won the support of Americans of German, Italian, Irish, or Jewish descent in the 1916 election, but Cox lost in all of those demographics and received less support from Jewish voters than Debs. Harding received support from over 90 percent of black voters. The distribution of
2032-479: A position he held for 15 years. One of Bogut's most memorable contributions to KDKA was his introduction to Western Pennsylvania of the word Farkleberry , which is now a staple of the annual Children's Hospital fund-raising campaign. Other notable personalities included Big Jack Armstrong , Bob Shannon and Terry McGovern ; the latter two would go on to enjoy lucrative careers in the Film/TV industry as actors. Also in
2159-406: A radio station (92.9 FM) licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which used the call letters KDKA-FM until 1979 3-Deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid kinase , an enzyme Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title KDKA . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
2286-531: A shift to more local programming, as the national radio shows were moving to television. Art Pallan , hired away from WWSW, and Bob Tracey became household names, playing the popular music of the day. For some years announcer Sterling Yates, also a musician, played hip, progressive jazz on a Sunday morning broadcast. On January 1, 1951, the married couple Ed and Wendy King launched Party Line , KDKA's first talk show, which ran until Ed King's death on November 18, 1971. Unlike most talk shows, callers were not heard, with
2413-802: A single county was carried by the Democrats in the Pacific section, where they had carried 76 in 1916. In the Mountain section Cox carried only thirteen counties, seven of them located in New Mexico bordering Texas, whereas Wilson carried all but twenty-one Mountain Section counties in 1916. At least one county was lost in every section in the Union and in every state except South Carolina and Mississippi . Eleven counties in Texas recorded
2540-472: A station operational in time to broadcast the presidential and local election returns on November 2, 1920. Election return broadcasts had been a tradition since shortly after the development of radio, although due to technical limitations initially they could only be done using Morse code, which greatly limited the potential audiences. Following the development of vacuum-tube transmitters that made audio transmissions via Amplitude Modulation (AM) possible,
2667-530: A successful evening talk show plus a top-rated afternoon drive program. Also in 1979, KDKA covered the Three Mile Island nuclear accident , first reported by Harrisburg newsman Mike Pintek. By 1982, Pintek joined the KDKA News staff and later became one of the station's most popular talk hosts, although he was let go at the end of 2005 as part of a programming overhaul. In 2007, he became the host of Night Talk on
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#17330930742562794-473: A then-record price of $ 9.75 million. Before the purchase, Westinghouse had attempted to purchase the channel 13 license allocated for public broadcasting , but eventually donated the tower to public interest groups and gave financial backing for the eventual WQED . The television station was renamed KDKA-TV on January 31, 1955. KDKA-TV affiliated with CBS , in contrast to KDKA's longtime NBC affiliation. KDKA radio remained affiliated with NBC radio until
2921-413: A time concerts were performed from this location. Eventually the tent was blown down in a storm, so it was moved indoors, where it was found the tent material helped deaden the echoes. This led to modern studio design, including walls covered with noise-absorbing material, initially "monks cloth" (which turned out to be a fancy name for burlap). Early programming often featured live musical performances by
3048-477: A vote against the persecutions suffered by German-Americans during the war". Not one major German-language newspaper supported Governor Cox. Many Irish Americans , bitterly angry at Wilson's refusal to help Ireland at Versailles, simply abstained from voting in the presidential election. This allowed the Republicans to mobilize the ethnic vote, and Harding swept the big cities. This was the first election in which women from every state were allowed to vote, following
3175-432: A well-known political figure because of his active and energetic campaign. In 1928, he was elected Governor of New York , and in 1932 he was elected president. He remained in power until his death in 1945 as the longest-serving American president in history. The total vote for 1920 was roughly 26,750,000, an increase of eight million from 1916 . Harding won in all twelve cities with populations above 500,000. Harding won
3302-571: Is democracy." False rumors circulated that Senator Harding had "Negro blood," but this did not greatly hurt Harding's election campaign. Governor Cox made a whirlwind campaign that took him to rallies, train station speeches, and formal addresses, reaching audiences totaling perhaps two million, whereas Senator Harding relied upon a " Front Porch Campaign " similar to that of William McKinley in 1896 . It brought thousands of voters to Marion, Ohio , where Harding spoke from his home. GOP campaign manager Will Hays spent some $ 8.1 million, nearly four times
3429-406: Is simulcast on FM translator W261AX at 100.1 MHz . KDKA features a news/talk radio format . Operating with a transmitter power of 50,000 watts non-directional , the station can be heard during daylight hours throughout central and western Pennsylvania, along with portions of the adjacent states of Ohio , West Virginia , Maryland and New York State , plus the southernmost part of
3556-504: The Buffalo Evening News , over an amateur station operated by Charles C. Klinck, Jr. Later station publicity proclaimed that Westinghouse's election night broadcast "was a national sensation, acclaimed by newspapers all over the country", however a comprehensive review of contemporary newspapers determined that reports, although positive, actually appeared only in a few local papers, thus it "was not an immediate 'sensation' and that
3683-765: The Communist Party USA . The Communist Party USA attempted to give its presidential nomination to Debs, but he declined the nomination. The Socialist Party held its 1919 convention in Chicago with 140 delegates in attendance. Twenty-six delegates, who were members of the party's left-wing, left the convention. These delegates attempted to unite with the Communist Party USA, but formed the Communist Labor Party of America on September 2, after those attempts failed. The Socialist Party had 100,000 members before
3810-543: The Easter Rising of 1916. Wilson won them over in 1917 by promising to ask Britain to give Ireland its independence. Wilson had won the presidential election of 1916 with strong support from German-Americans and Irish-Americans, largely because of his slogan "He kept us out of war" and the longstanding American policy of isolationism . At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, however, he reneged on his commitments to
3937-563: The League of Nations . Wilson blamed the Irish Americans and German Americans for the lack of popular support for his unsuccessful campaign to have the United States join the League of Nations , saying, "There is an organized propaganda against the League of Nations and against the treaty proceeding from exactly the same sources that the organized propaganda proceeded from which threatened this country here and there with disloyalty, and I want to say—I cannot say too often—any man who carries
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4064-525: The Pittsburgh Cable News Channel . As of January 2009, Pintek was rehired at KDKA to host a 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. talk show, and, following the death of Fred Honsberger, took over the 12 noon-3 p.m. timeslot in January 2010. In July 2017, Pintek took a leave of absence to receive treatment for pancreatic cancer. He died on September 12, 2018. On July 23, 1982, KDKA claims to have become
4191-471: The Pittsburgh Pirates - Philadelphia Phillies game from Forbes Field . In the fall of that year, the station became the first to broadcast a college football game . In 1922, KDKA hosted political humorist Will Rogers in his first radio appearance. Initially KDKA had to share its 360-meter assignment with the other broadcasting stations that were established in the region, until May 15, 1923, when
4318-601: The United States on November 2, 1920. Republican senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio defeated Democratic governor James M. Cox of Ohio. It was the first election held after the end of the First World War , and the first election after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which gave equal votes to men and women. It was the third presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in
4445-480: The 1960s, KDKA reported numerous important events, including the Pirates' improbable 1960 World Series win. In local news reporting, the station pioneered with "on the scene" reports of Mike Levine, the peripatetic former newspaper man whose mobile-unit broadcasts from Tri-State-area covering fires, floods, bank robberies, and coal mine disasters won numerous journalism awards. His nightly "Contact" show (later "Open Mike")
4572-433: The 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. and the 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. timeslots. In 1997, Bob DeWitt was hired as news director, serving for two years. His award-winning team included Bob Kopler, Dave James, Bob Kmetz, Barbara Boylan, Mike Whitely and Beth Trapani. Westinghouse merged with CBS in late 1995; KDKA would soon become an Infinity Broadcasting station, after that chain (a previously separate entity from CBS and Westinghouse)
4699-545: The Armstrong regenerative patent. Armstrong had previously sold "amateur and experimental" rights to around 17 small firms, which also began selling receivers to the general public. Westinghouse sued on the grounds that this went beyond their rights, but lost, which resulted in the formation of a series of major competitors, including Crosley and Zenith . Running over-the-air commercials was an obvious financing alternative, but initially Westinghouse officials were soundly against
4826-626: The Canadian province of Ontario . With a good radio, KDKA can be heard throughout the state of Pennsylvania and much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada at night. The station serves as western Pennsylvania's Primary Entry Point for the Emergency Alert System . KDKA has described itself as the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World". It is considered by many historians as
4953-609: The Communist Party united in December 1921 to form the Workers Party of America . Edward Henry, who was a friend of Debs, Lena Morrow Lewis , and Oscar Ameringer nominated Debs for the party's nomination on May 13, 1920, and the 134 delegates to the national convention voted unanimously to give him the nomination. Kate Richards O'Hare , who was also in prison, was considered for the vice-presidential nomination, but Seymour Stedman
5080-491: The Conrad broadcasts. H. P. Davis saw this advertisement and immediately recognized the "limitless opportunity" of adding radio receivers to the lines of appliances sold to the general public by Westinghouse, and to create demand for the receivers, he decided that Westinghouse should provide regular programming as an incentive for persons considering a purchase. Davis held a staff meeting with his "radio cabinet" and asked them to have
5207-471: The Department of Commerce expanded the broadcasting frequency assignments into a band from 550 to 1350 kHz. Under this new plan 920 kHz was exclusively allocated to Pittsburgh, and KDKA was granted sole use of this frequency. The original financing plan, of using the revenues from radio receiver sales to pay station costs, proved to be insufficient for a number of reasons. Additional expenses included
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5334-424: The East Pittsburgh transmitter failed, but the effort was successful, with one newspaper report noting that: "The returns by wireless telephone, which were transmitted from the Westinghouse international radio station at East Pittsburgh, were exceptionally clear and distinct. The service was utilized by many amateurs to entertain gatherings at their various stations. Between announcements of the returns radiophone music
5461-538: The Irish-American community, who vehemently denounced him. His dilemma was that Britain was his war ally. Events such as the anti-British Black Tom and Kingsland Explosions in 1916 on American soil (in part the result of wartime Irish and German co-ordination) and the Irish anti-conscription crisis of 1918 were all embarrassing to recall in 1920. Britain had already passed an Irish Home Rule Act in 1914 , suspended for
5588-583: The KDKA story is often recounted, the details tend to vary slightly both in the secondary source material and in the published recollections of the participants, including differences in the chronology of events and the relative importance of the parties involved." KDKA's establishment was an outgrowth of the post- World War I efforts of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , to expand its commercial operations in
5715-526: The League only with reservations, particularly on Article Ten, which would require the United States to participate in any war declared by the League (thus taking the same standpoint as Republican Senate leader Henry Cabot Lodge ). As reporter Brand Whitlock observed, the League was an issue important in government circles, but rather less so to the electorate. He also noted that the campaign was not waged on issues: "The people, indeed, do not know what ideas Harding or Cox represents; neither do Harding or Cox. Great
5842-605: The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Nearly two-thirds of the counties (1,949) were carried by the Republicans. The Democrats carried only 1,101 counties, a smaller number than Alton Parker had carried in 1904 and consequently the smallest number during the Fourth Party System until that point ( Al Smith would carry even fewer in 1928 ). Not
5969-617: The Socialist Party who had come from Russian language federation of the party and other more radical groups within the party started to create their own papers and membership dues and cards. These members supported a platform that was similar to the Communist International and elected twelve of their members to the fifteen-member National Executive Committee. However, there was accusations of election irregularities and an Emergency Convention held on August 30, 1919, suspended seven of
6096-705: The Supremes , Four Tops , and the Turtles . After 11 years of providing early morning entertainment, Rege Cordic moved to KNX in Los Angeles. His replacements were Pallan and Bob Trow , whose "Pallan and Trow, Two For the Show" program retained some of the Cordic & Company flavor. Two and a half years later, in April 1968, Jack Bogut moved from Salt Lake City to become the KDKA morning host,
6223-424: The United States there were no formal standards defining a broadcasting station until December 1, 1921, when the Department of Commerce issued a regulation specifying that stations making broadcasts intended for the general public now had to hold a Limited Commercial license that authorized operation on 360 meters or 485 meters (619 kHz). KDKA was one of a small number of stations that already met this standard at
6350-481: The United States," "Independence means independence, now as in 1776," "This country will remain American. Its next President will remain in our own country," and "We decided long ago that we objected to foreign government of our people." On election night, November 2, 1920, commercial radio broadcast coverage of election returns for the first time. Announcers at KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh read telegraph ticker results over
6477-512: The air as they came in. This single station could be heard over most of the Eastern United States by the small percentage of the population that had radio receivers. Harding's landslide came from all directions except the South. Irish- and German-American voters who had backed Wilson and peace in 1916 now voted against Wilson and Versailles. "A vote for Harding", said the German-language press, "is
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#17330930742566604-534: The amateur call sign of "8MK" and is now AM 950 WWJ . Westinghouse's preparations included the construction of a shack and antenna system on the roof of the nine-story K Building at the East Pittsburgh Works in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania . The antenna consisted of six 90-foot-long (27 m) wires spread 20 feet (6 m) apart, strung 210 feet (64 m) above the ground between a brick smokestack and
6731-869: The beginning" that advertising would be the ultimate financing solution. Westinghouse, along with RCA and General Electric, was a co-founder in 1926 of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which created two national radio networks: the NBC Red Network and the NBC Blue Network . KDKA became affiliated with the Blue network, and with this change began selling airtime: up until now, the station had been commercial-free. KDKA played popular music and advertisers began sponsoring special radio programs like The Philco Hour , The Maxwell House Hour and The Wrigley Party . A general frequency reassignment under
6858-452: The bombastic John Cigna moving over from WJAS to anchor the nighttime talk program and urge listeners to "buy American!" In 1974 Perry Marshall replaced Wheeler in the overnight timeslot, which became known as the "Marshall's Office". In 1975, Roy Fox debuted as the 6 to 9 pm talk host. By now, KDKA had become a full service adult contemporary radio station. In 1979, newsman Fred Honsberger began working at KDKA, and went on to host
6985-551: The brunt of attack, not the Democratic Party and the domestic proposals of the period 1896–1914. This is one of two elections since the Civil War (along with 1924) where national turnout was below 50 percent. This was also the third presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in 1860 , 1904 , 1940 , 1944 , and 2016 . 5.83% of Harding's votes came from
7112-431: The callsign 8XK. Following the war, the U.S. government again allowed the operation of civilian radio stations, and Conrad revived 8XK, which was located in a detached two-story garage at his residence. He used the knowledge gained during the wartime period to upgrade his station to begin making audio transmissions, and became well known among radio amateurs for his experimental activities. On October 17, 1919, Conrad made
7239-540: The campaign the Socialists had four airplanes drop socialist literature over Toledo, Ohio . The wife of Charles Edward Russell claimed that the ghost of Susan B. Anthony told her to vote for Debs. Over 60,000 people donated to the Socialist Party's campaign fund. Gerber predicted that Debs would receive three million votes and that five Socialists would be elected to Congress. Debs received 913,693 votes with his largest amount of support coming from New York . His vote total
7366-539: The company's patent position, especially related to receivers, he spearheaded the purchase of the International Radio Telegraph Company, primarily to gain control of a " heterodyne " patent originally issued to Reginald Fessenden , and also arranged for the purchase of the commercial rights to the regenerative and superheterodyne patents held by Edwin Howard Armstrong . However, because of
7493-474: The competitive advantage RCA had in international and marine communications, initially there appeared to be limited opportunities available to Westinghouse. Although it would gain its fame as a broadcasting station, KDKA actually originated as part of a project to establish private radiotelegraph links between Westinghouse's East Pittsburgh factory and its other facilities, to avoid the business expense of paying for telegraph and telephone lines. In September 1920,
7620-436: The convention, Daugherty was quoted as saying, "I don't expect Senator Harding to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can afford to take chances that about 11 minutes after two, Friday morning of the convention, when 15 or 12 weary men are sitting around a table, someone will say: 'Who will we nominate?' At that decisive time, the friends of Harding will suggest him and we can well afford to abide by
7747-531: The county vote accurately represents the overwhelming character of the majority vote. Harding received 60.35 percent of the total vote, the largest percentage in the Fourth Party System, exceeding Franklin D. Roosevelt 's in 1932 . Although the Democratic share was 34.13 percent, in no section did its voting share sink below 24 percent, and in three sections, the Democrats topped the poll. The Democratic Party
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#17330930742567874-544: The couple taking turns relaying the callers' information. In 1956 newsman Bill Steinbach began his 36-year career at the station – within 10 years he was the anchor of the award-winning 90-to-6 news program. KDKA cautiously embraced rock and roll music, with artists such as Bill Haley , the Everly Brothers , Fats Domino , and Elvis Presley , in addition to popular vocalists including Frank Sinatra , Peggy Lee , and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania native Perry Como . However,
8001-441: The decision to switch from a full-service format that included music to one that was an exclusively news/talk. The changeover occurred at noon on April 10, 1992, when Larry Richert played the last song aired as a regular part of KDKA programming: Don McLean 's "American Pie", signifying that, for KDKA, this was "the day the music died". Rush Limbaugh was added to the noon to 3:00 p.m. timeslot, and all-news blocks were added in
8128-436: The election night broadcast — for example, in 1922 L.R. Krumm, Westinghouse's Superintendent of Radio Operations, referred to Westinghouse's "station at East Pittsburgh, now known as KDKA, the matured successor of 8ZZ" — later reviews, including a 1930 re-creation of the original broadcast, often incorrectly state that the KDKA call sign was used during the debut broadcast. Extensive regional publicity by Westinghouse heralded
8255-455: The fame of this event developed over time with later celebratory accounts". Although the election night broadcast was only heard by about 1,000 people, KDKA would eventually gain national prominence once it began to offer an extensive range of programming. After initially operating under the call sign 8ZZ – apparently for just a few days, although the chronology is not completely clear – the station switched to identifying itself as KDKA. Through
8382-452: The first commercially licensed radio station. Initially using the temporarily assigned "special amateur" call sign of 8ZZ, it traces its beginning to its broadcast of the Harding-Cox presidential election results on the evening of November 2, 1920. Although KDKA's history has been extensively reviewed, there are some inconsistencies between accounts, leading one researcher to note: "While
8509-577: The first of what would become a semi-regular series of entertainment broadcasts. During this time the Joseph Horne department store ran daily full-page advertisements in the Pittsburgh papers, and, in its September 23, 1920, placement, stated that the store had started selling "Amateur Wireless Sets" for "$ 10 upwards". Six days later, the store's September 29 installment included a small notice titled "Air Concert 'Picked Up' By Radio Here", which noted that its demonstration set had been used to receive one of
8636-800: The first spoken-word election night broadcast was made on November 7, 1916 by the DeForest Radio Telephone and Telegraph Company's station, 2XG , located in the Highbridge section of New York City, in conjunction with the New York American , announcing the results of the Wilson-Hughes presidential election . On August 31, 1920, the Detroit News , whose "Detroit News Radiophone" began making daily broadcasts on August 20, had broadcast local primary election results. That station operated under
8763-471: The frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but he died in 1919 without leaving an obvious heir to his progressive legacy. The major parties turned to littleknown dark horse candidates from the state of Ohio, a swing state with a large number of electoral votes. Cox won on the 44th ballot at the 1920 Democratic National Convention , defeating William Gibbs McAdoo (Wilson's son-in-law), A. Mitchell Palmer , and several other candidates. Harding emerged as
8890-420: The government ordered all civilian radio stations off the air. However, during the conflict Westinghouse received permission to operate research radio transmitters located at its East Pittsburgh plant and at the home of one of its lead engineers, Frank Conrad , in nearby Wilkinsburg . With the end of the war, the government contracts were canceled. However, Westinghouse moved aggressively to establish itself as
9017-466: The idea, contending that it would destroy the listening experience. In 1922 J. C. McQuiston, from the Westinghouse Department of Publicity, declared that "if advertising were permitted, it goes without saying that all the good work that has been done in giving valuable information and pleasant entertainment for the people would be destroyed". In 1922, H. P. Davis suggested that the best solution
9144-401: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KDKA&oldid=1173274434 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Broadcast call sign disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages KDKA (AM) KDKA ( 1020 kHz ) is
9271-558: The international responsibilities engendered by the Allied victory in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles proved deeply unpopular, causing a reaction against Wilson, who had pushed especially hard for the latter. Irish Americans were powerful in the Democratic party, and groups such as Clan na Gael opposed going to war alongside their enemy Britain, especially after the violent suppression of
9398-465: The introduction of licensing in late 1912, the standard practice had been to assign call letters starting with "W" to radio stations east of the Mississippi River. However, KDKA happened to receive its assignment during a short period during which land stations were being issued call letters from a sequential block of "K" call letters that had previously been assigned only to ship stations. Although
9525-517: The lawyer who had advised the fundraisers was Franklin D. Roosevelt , the losing vice-presidential candidate. In any case, the Irish American city machines sat on their hands during the election, allowing the Republicans to roll up unprecedented landslides in every major city. Many German-American Democrats voted Republican or stayed home, giving the GOP landslides in the rural Midwest. Wilson had hoped for
9652-467: The money Cox's campaign spent. Hays used national advertising in a major way (with advice from adman Albert Lasker ). The theme was Harding's own slogan "America First". Thus the Republican advertisement in Collier's Magazine for October 30, 1920, demanded, "Let's be done with wiggle and wobble." The image presented in the ads was nationalistic, using catch phrases like "absolute control of the United States by
9779-434: The nation. On August 1, 1921, the transmitter was upgraded from 100 to 500 watts, and two months later saw an additional doubling, to 1,000 watts. The election night broadcast was transmitted on a wavelength of 550 meters (545 kHz). Later publicity stated that KDKA was now broadcasting on 330 meters (909 kHz), and in the fall of 1921 all the Westinghouse broadcasting stations began using 360 meters (833 kHz). In
9906-830: The network purchased WJAS in 1957 for WJAS's owners to gain a 50% ownership stake in WIIC-TV (now WPXI ) with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . KDKA then went independent, relying more on its Group W ties than on a national network. On April 30, 1956, KDKA relocated its studios from the Grant Building to Gateway Center , joining KDKA-TV. Broadcasting-Telecasting described the new arrangement as "combined facilities" similar to what Westinghouse had established at its Boston stations, WBZ and WBZ-TV . By 1960, KDKA added more rock and roll music, as competitor KQV made ratings gains. "Your Pal" Pallan played hit songs and KDKA carried
10033-415: The next month semiweekly broadcasts were made, until December 21, when the station embarked on an ambitious daily schedule, initially for about an hour each evening. (Reflecting the December launch, the January 1, 1922, debut issue of Westinghouse's Radio Broadcasting News included the reference "Fifty-fourth week broadcasting".) KDKA soon gained a reputation as one of the premier broadcasting stations in
10160-420: The nomination thrown wide open, the party ultimately opted to nominate keynote speaker and Methodist minister Aaron Watkins of Ohio, over other candidates such as 1916 Convention Chair Robert Patton of Illinois, itinerant minister Daniel Poling of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Charles Randall of California. Historian David Leigh Colvin of New York was nominated for the vice presidency. James E. Ferguson ,
10287-434: The original policy was restored a few months later, KDKA was permitted to keep its non-standard call sign. Shortly after beginning the process of setting up KDKA to be used for point-to-point communication, a series of events occurred which resulted in it also becoming a broadcasting station, which would overshadow its original role. Prior to World War I, Frank Conrad had operated an experimental radiotelegraph station, with
10414-569: The party's twelve language federations and expelled the party affiliates in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Ohio. The more radical members of the party held a convention in New York City in June 1919, which was attended by 94 delegates from twenty states. A vote to create a new party was defeated by a vote of 55 to 38 causing 31 delegates to withdraw from the convention. These 31 delegates held their own convention in Chicago on September 1, where they founded
10541-596: The passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in August 1920 (just in time for the general election). Tennessee's vote for Warren G. Harding marked the first time since the end of Reconstruction that even one of the eleven states of the former Confederacy had voted for a Republican presidential candidate. Tennessee had last been carried by a Republican when Ulysses S. Grant claimed it in 1868 . Even though Cox lost badly, his running mate Franklin D. Roosevelt became
10668-408: The popular vote remains the largest popular-vote percentage margin for a Republican, and the largest ever since widespread popular elections began in the 1820s. However, subsequent candidates (in 1936 , 1964 and 1972 ) have exceeded his share of the popular vote. Cox won just 34.1 percent of the popular vote, and Socialist Eugene V. Debs won 3.4 percent, despite being in prison at the time. It
10795-684: The process. Impressed with the success Rege Cordic was having at WWSW , KDKA hired him away, and Cordic started his KDKA run on Labor Day, 1954. The Cordic & Company morning show, featuring a team of bright and innovative personalities, was a pioneer of today's "morning team" radio format, but in an unconventional way. Cordic and his group played a small amount of music, but primarily provided entertainment through skits, including recurring characters such as "Louie The Garbageman" and space alien "Omicron". Cordic's crew included Karl Hardman and Bob Trow , later known for portraying "Bob Dog" and "Robert Troll" on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . The 1950s saw
10922-784: The prospect of another run, and ultimately ruled himself out following the death of his daughter early in 1920. On June 8, the Republican National Convention met in Chicago. The race was wide open, and soon the convention deadlocked between Major General Leonard Wood and Governor Frank Orren Lowden of Illinois. Other names placed in nomination included Senators Warren G. Harding from Ohio, Hiram Johnson from California, and Miles Poindexter from Washington, Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, philanthropist Herbert Hoover , and Columbia University President Nicholas M. Butler . Senator Robert M. La Follette from Wisconsin
11049-641: The provisions of newly formed Federal Radio Commission 's General Order 40 , effective November 11, 1928, led to KDKA being assigned to the " clear channel " frequency of 980 kHz. On January 1, 1929, the station inaugurated new studio facilities located in the William Penn Hotel , and on June 26 relocated its Master Control facilities to the hotel. In 1932, as a result of antitrust proceedings, Westinghouse had to divest its 40% ownership stake of RCA and 20% ownership in NBC. At 7 a.m. on November 2, 1934,
11176-414: The radio industry. During the war, Westinghouse received government contracts to develop radio transmitters and receivers for military use. They used recently developed vacuum tube equipment that was capable of audio communication. Previous spark gap transmitters could only be used to transmit the dots-and-dashes of Morse code . At the time of the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1917,
11303-786: The reformist zeal of the Progressive Era . The wartime economic boom had collapsed and the country was deep in a recession . Wilson's advocacy for America's entry into the League of Nations , in the face of a return to non-interventionist opinion, challenged his effectiveness as president, and there were wars and revolutions overseas. At home, the year 1919 was marked by major strikes in the meatpacking and steel industries, and large-scale race riots in Chicago and other cities. Anarchist attacks on Wall Street produced fears of radicals and terrorists . The Irish Catholic and German communities were outraged at Wilson's perceived support of their traditional enemy, Great Britain, and his political position
11430-414: The requirement to pay royalties to musical composers, plus the fact that, unlike the amateur Westinghouse Company staff performers, professional acts started to expect to be paid in something more tangible than publicity. On the revenue side, Westinghouse found that it didn't have the near-monopoly for selling vacuum-tube receivers that it expected it had gotten through the purchase of the commercial rights to
11557-495: The result." Daugherty's prediction described essentially what occurred, but historians Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris argue that Daugherty's prediction has been given too much weight in narratives of the convention. Once the presidential nomination was finally settled, the party bosses and Sen. Harding recommended Wisconsin Sen. Irvine Lenroot to the delegates for the second spot, but the delegates revolted and nominated Coolidge, who
11684-564: The resulting license, mentioned broadcasting, only that the station was to be used for radiotelegraphic communication with stations located at the Westinghouse facilities in Cleveland, Newark and Springfield, plus station WCG in Brooklyn, New York, which was operated by the recently acquired International Radio Telegraph. At this time, radio stations in the United States were regulated by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Navigation. Beginning with
11811-519: The return of former president Theodore Roosevelt to the Republican Party after the previous election, speculation quickly grew as to whether he would make another run for the presidency. Roosevelt's health declined seriously in 1918, however, and he died on January 6, 1919. Attention then turned to the party's unsuccessful 1916 candidate, Charles Evans Hughes , who had narrowly fallen short of defeating Wilson that year, but Hughes remained aloof as to
11938-502: The same home state (the others have been in 1860 , 1904 , 1940 , 1944 , and 2016 ), and the last time that the state was not New York. It was the first presidential election to have its results broadcast by radio . Coincidentally, the election was held on Harding's 55th birthday. Incumbent Democratic president Woodrow Wilson privately hoped for a third term, despite his severe physical and mental disabilities, but he had very little support. Former president Theodore Roosevelt had been
12065-412: The situation around Wilson's illness and incapacity destroyed any credibility he had as a candidate, and in the end he did not formally put himself forward for the nomination. Although William Gibbs McAdoo (Wilson's son-in-law and former Treasury Secretary) was the strongest candidate, Wilson blocked his nomination in hopes a deadlocked convention would demand that he run for a third term, even though he
12192-665: The sounds of screaming crowds as the Beatles arrived in Pittsburgh in 1964. The major exponent of rock on KDKA radio was disc jockey Clark Race, who also hosted "Dance Party" on KDKA-TV, a local version of Dick Clark's American Bandstand . Other artists featured on the station included the Four Seasons , the Vogues , Lou Christie (the latter two Pittsburgh-bred), the Beach Boys , the Hollies ,
12319-517: The splits, but it fell to 55,000 members while the Communist Party had 35,000 members and the Communist Labor Party had 10,000 members. The Communist Party claimed to have 60,000 members while the Communist Labor Party claimed to have 30,000 members. The United Communist Party was formed in May 1920 between the Communist Labor Party and some members of the Communist Party. The United Communist Party and
12446-638: The station's 14th birthday, KDKA inaugurated new studios in the Grant Building . The William Penn Hotel studios later became the home of WCAE . In the 1930s, KDKA began the long-running (1932–1980) Uncle Ed Shaughency show. The station played popular big band and jazz music every morning as well as hosting the KDKA Farm Hour . From 1941 to 1959, the Farm Hour was built around farm reports along with music by Slim Bryant and his Wildcats, who eventually became
12573-472: The station's sound remained much more conservative than most Top 40 stations. In 1955, the station began regular broadcasts of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games, a partnership that ended in 2006, but was restarted in 2012 when KDKA-FM began carrying the games. KDKA gained a television sister station in late 1954, when Westinghouse purchased WDTV (channel 2) from the DuMont Television Network for
12700-579: The supporters of the Irish Republic , however, which claimed full sovereignty . This position was also supported by many Irish Americans. The American Committee for Relief in Ireland was set up in 1920 to assist victims of the Irish War of Independence of 1919–21. Some Irish-American senators joined the " irreconcilables " who blocked the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and United States membership in
12827-704: The time of its adoption, as its second year-long license, issued November 7, 1921, included the notation "360 meters for general broadcasting" in addition to continuing the point-to-point service authorization. Encouraged by the success of KDKA, by the end of 1921 Westinghouse established stations in three additional major population centers, including WJZ in Newark, New Jersey (now WABC in New York City); WBZ , originally in Springfield, Massachusetts (now Boston); and KYW , originally in Chicago, Illinois (now Philadelphia). As
12954-553: The top local country music act in the Pittsburgh area. Special programming included ongoing coverage of the 1936 St. Patrick's Day flood that submerged Downtown Pittsburgh as far as Wood Street. A final frequency change took place in March 1941, under the provisions of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement , as KDKA's clear channel assignment was shifted from 980 to 1020 kHz. In 1943, NBC
13081-424: The upcoming broadcast, both among technically knowledgeable amateur radio enthusiasts, plus, through the organization of public listening sites, toward a more general audience of potential future radio receiver purchasers. Promotional announcements described the offering as a joint effort between Westinghouse and its International Radio Telegraph subsidiary, and A. E. Braun, an International Radio Telegraph officer who
13208-607: The war's duration. However the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin had led to increased support for the more radical Sinn Féin who in 1919 formed the First Dáil , effectively declaring Ireland independent, sparking the Irish War of Independence . Britain was to pass the Government of Ireland Act in late 1920, by which Ireland would have 2 home-ruled states within the British empire. This satisfied Wilson. The provisions of these were inadequate to
13335-662: The world's first radio station to broadcast in AM stereo although experimental AM stereo broadcasts were conducted as early as the 1960s on Mexico's XETRA 690 . Throughout the 1980s, KDKA continued an information and news intensive adult contemporary music format, playing four to six songs per hour at drive times and 10 to 12 songs an hour during middays and weekends. At night, the station continued its talk format. The station won four Associated Press Joe Snyder awards for outstanding overall news service in Pennsylvania. KDKA eventually made
13462-434: Was "five or six large, well-located and powerful stations" which "could be licensed, protected and organized... and that it would become a matter of such public value, that endowments or Federal subsidies would be possible which would assist those responsible for the service to carry it on and to continue the development and research required to get the most value out of it". However, in 1928 he stated that he had realized "from
13589-683: Was KDKA's initial venture into the news-based talk radio format that would become the station's basic offering. In the summer of 1969, KDKA debuted overnight talk with Jack Wheeler, launching an anything-goes talk show that ran from midnight to 6 a.m. six nights a week. By the early 1970s, KDKA adopted more of an adult contemporary format, consisting of rock and roll hits of the 1960s plus soft rock, with artists such as America , The Carpenters , The Doobie Brothers , Paul Simon and Neil Diamond becoming core offerings. The morning show featured less music and an increased news and commercial content. In 1973, KDKA revamped its "Party Line" timeslot, with
13716-563: Was acquired by Westinghouse a year later. Westinghouse would later turn itself into CBS Corporation in 1997. Viacom bought CBS Corporation in 1999, but five years later transformed itself into CBS Corporation , thus making KDKA a part of CBS Radio . For the 2007 season, KDKA lost the radio rights to the Pittsburgh Pirates to WPGB . 1920 United States presidential election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Warren G. Harding Republican Presidential elections were held in
13843-508: Was also the president of the Pittsburgh Post and Pittsburgh Sun , made the arrangements for his newspapers to provide election results to the station. In the days before November 2, a series of test transmissions were made to check the equipment. The announcer for the election night broadcast was a publicity department staff member, Leo Rosenberg. Frank Conrad stood by at his home station, ready to take over using his 8XK transmitter if
13970-554: Was carried ten miles (sixteen kilometers) by a telephone line connection to Westinghouse's East Pittsburgh Works. On July 2, 1921, RCA arranged to broadcast live, over temporary station WJY , the Jack Dempsey – Georges Carpentier heavyweight boxing match in New Jersey, with the company claiming that 300,000 persons listened to the WJY transmission. KDKA participated in the event by providing supplemental coverage west of WJY's range, as
14097-561: Was compelled by the U.S. government to divest itself of one of its two networks, which resulted in it selling the Blue network (which became the American Broadcasting Company). Prior to the sale KDKA swapped affiliations with KQV to become affiliated with the NBC-Red network. Also during this period, in 1942 it gained a sister station, W75P, on the then-new FM band , which later became KDKA-FM, changing to WPNT in 1979. This station
14224-567: Was critically weakened after he suffered a stroke in 1919 that left him severely disabled. Harding all but ignored Cox in the race, and essentially campaigned against Wilson by calling for a " return to normalcy ". Harding won a landslide victory , sweeping every state outside of the South and becoming the first Republican since the end of Reconstruction to win a former state of the Confederacy , Tennessee . Harding's victory margin of 26.2 percent in
14351-512: Was incarcerated at the Atlanta federal penitentiary at the time for advocating non-compliance with the draft during World War I. He received the largest number of popular votes ever received by a Socialist Party candidate in the United States, although not the largest percentage of the popular vote. Debs received double this percentage in the election of 1912 . The 1920 election was Debs's fifth and last attempt to become president. In 1919, members of
14478-504: Was not formally placed in nomination, but received the votes of his state delegation nonetheless. Harding was nominated for president on the tenth ballot, after some delegates shifted their allegiances. The results of the ten ballots were as follows: Harding's nomination, said to have been secured in negotiations among party bosses in a " smoke-filled room ," was engineered by Harry M. Daugherty , Harding's political manager, who became United States Attorney General after his election. Before
14605-435: Was only opposed by six. Upon hearing of his nomination however Bryan declined the gesture, not wishing to remain singularly focused on the prohibition question or to sever his ties with the Democratic Party entirely. Some had considered Billy Sunday a possible substitute but Sunday was "satisfied" with Republican nominee Warren Harding, while others thought about potentially nominating Henry Ford as their standard-bearer. With
14732-618: Was over 50 percent more than what Allan L. Benson had received in the 1916 election. Debs later chose to not run for president in the 1924 election and instead supported Robert M. La Follette . 1920 Prohibition Party ticket Aaron S. Watkins D. Leigh Colvin Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, there was some question whether the Prohibition Party would field an independent ticket as opposed to endorsing either Harding or Cox, but this
14859-461: Was predicated on either making a clear statement that they would not move to weaken the Eighteenth Amendment ; neither chose to make any such commitment. The ticket favored by most present was that of William Jennings Bryan for president and William "Billy" Sunday for vice president, and indeed when a motion was made to nominate Bryan by acclamation, of the more than two hundred present it
14986-400: Was received to operate under the call sign of 8ZZ. (The first "Z" in this call sign indicated it was a "Special Amateur" grant, which was a classification that permitted the use of transmitting frequencies other than the congested 200 meter (1500 kHz) standard amateur wavelength.) Although the pre-broadcast publicity and contemporary accounts stated that 8ZZ was the call sign used for
15113-498: Was selected by a vote of 106 to 26, which was later made unanimous, in order to have one of the candidates campaign. James H. Maurer was also considered for the vice-presidential nomination, but he declined due to his duties as head of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor. Debs accepted the presidential nomination in an Atlanta prison on May 29, after being notified by Seymour, James Oneal , and Julius Gerber . During
15240-531: Was seriously ill, physically immobile, and in seclusion at the time. The Democrats, meeting in San Francisco between June 28 and July 6 (the first time a major party held its nominating convention in an urban center on the Pacific coast), nominated another newspaper editor from Ohio, Governor James M. Cox , as their presidential candidate, and 38-year-old Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt ,
15367-455: Was sold by Westinghouse in 1984, and is now WLTJ . In 1946, KDKA provided live coverage of the inauguration of David L. Lawrence as Pittsburgh Mayor, as well as the presidential and gubernatorial inaugurations. By the end of the decade, the musical and comedy team of Buzz Aston and Bill Hinds, billed as "Buzz & Bill", aired. In the 1950s, Ed Shaughency was moved from mornings to the afternoon, losing his partner, Rainbow (Elmer Walters) in
15494-456: Was still a significant opposition on national terms, even though Cox won only eleven states and had fewer votes in the electoral college than Parker had won in 1904. More than two-thirds of the Cox vote was in states carried by Harding. The distribution of the vote by counties, and the study of percentages in sections, states, and counties, seem to show that it was Wilson and foreign policies that received
15621-598: Was submitted to the Eighth District Radio Inspector, S. W. Edwards in Detroit, who forwarded it to Washington, and on October 27, 1920, Westinghouse was issued a Limited Commercial station license, serial No. 174, with the identifying call letters of KDKA. This Limited Commercial grant was consistent with the standard practice being followed at this time, for licenses issued to companies engaging in private radio communication. Neither KDKA's original application, nor
15748-452: Was the first election in which women had the right to vote in all 48 states, which caused the total popular vote to increase dramatically, from 18.5 million in 1916 to 26.8 million in 1920. Both major-party vice-presidential nominees would later succeed to the presidency: Calvin Coolidge (Republican) upon Harding's death in 1923 and Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic) after defeating Republican president Herbert Hoover in 1932. Following
15875-631: Was transmitted, which added much to the entertainment." This Westinghouse broadcast was not unique – that evening at least three other stations made audio transmissions of election returns, including the Detroit News ' "Detroit News Radiophone" service, a temporary arrangement made by the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch in conjunction with William E. Woods of the Benwoods Company, "manufacturers and distributors of wireless outfits", and
16002-501: Was unable to get on the ballot anywhere outside of Texas. Ferguson did manage to gain almost 10 percent of the vote in Texas, and won eleven counties in the southeast of the state. Warren Harding's main campaign slogan was a "return to normalcy", playing upon the weariness of the American public after the social upheaval of the Progressive Era , World War I , and the Spanish flu . Additionally,
16129-602: Was very popular over his handling of the Boston Police Strike from the year before. The Tally: Source for convention coverage: Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, Convention Decisions and Voting Records (Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 1973), pp. 200–208. It was widely accepted prior to the election that President Woodrow Wilson would not run for a third term, and certainly would not be nominated if he did so. While Vice President Thomas R. Marshall long had desired to succeed Wilson, his indecisive handling of
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